Desert rose
by P0LAROID
Summary: Nnoitra Jiruga had fought Neliel, and used underhanded ways to defeat his nemesis. Once satisfied by her ending, he started to feel something bite at him. Did he miss her? No he did not. Did he regret his actions? No he did not. Why didn't Neliel return? He wanted to fight her, show her his new techniques! As fate played its game, Nnoitra once again met Neliel, in her child form.


''Fight me!'' Nnoitra's voice boomed throughout the empty hallways. Neliel simply walked away, her head held up high. She had no time to waste with the arrogant arrancar.  
''Are you scared?'' He taunted. Neliel simply turned her head away. ''You are childish'' she said. Nnoitra huffed and scoffed, pushing Neliel against the wall, threatening her with his Crescent blade. ''You bitch, what the fuck did you say?'' he growled. Neliel simply pushed him off her, and walked off. He was still immature in her eyes. She could hear him swear while walking off.

These were one of the many encounters of Nnoitra and Neliel. Nnoitra's memories were full of these encounters, and on so many lonely nights, he couldn't help but remember these. He and Neliel had never gotten along. He didn't want to get along with her. She was the perfect being who could never lose to anyone while he was the one who had to work his ass off in order to join the ranked arrancars. It has been a while since he saw her last, thrown off from the roof of Las Noches, her mask broken. He didn't regret his decision, but there was something else that annoyed him. She still didn't come back to fight him. He often thought that she was dead in the desert of Hueco Mundo. After all, she turned into a small child after he had defeated her. After he had thrown her out of Las Noches, Aizen didn't even question him about it. Actually, no one did. She simply disappeared from everyone's mind, except for his. He was still waiting for her to come back, so she could fight him.  
She would finally have a legit reason to fight him.

Little Nel was running around Hueco Mundo, Pesche and Dondochakka running after her. Like always, they played eternal tag, something that she loved doing. It was a good way to pass time in the boring dunes of Hueco Mundo. The moon was their only source of light, however, being together with her brothers made her feel content. She never questioned anything, or anyone. She was a simple innocent mind. A few months passed, and suddenly alot of arrancars went back and forth from the Garganta's. Nel watched in awe. She sometimes wished that she was strong enough to join the Espada, it was something that looked quite awesome to her. However, she also loved to stay with her brothers.

Nnoitra simply ran his hand through his sleek hair while looking outside of the window. The only thing he saw were dunes dunes and more dunes. The only reason why looked outside was because of the memories. He could see the place where he had dumped Neliel's body together with her idiotic Fraccions. He sighed, his cheek leaning on his fist.  
'' That bitch..'' he murmured. She conquered his mind. He wanted her to come back. He wanted to fight her, he wanted to show her his newly acquired powers. He wanted her to squirm underneath his feet, and make her take back all her insults. However, in all this time, he had not felt her Spiritual Power even once. She simply disappeared into thin air after he had dumped her.

Nel cried out loud as Pesche finally catched her. It was now her turn to catch her brothers. She started to laugh like a maniac when she ran after her brothers. Yet suddenly Pesche stopped;  
''Nel, we should head back''  
''Why? Are you scared that Nel will catch you?'' she said gleefully.  
Pesche picked her up and walked away from the castle together with Dondochakka. It was dangerous for them to near the castle. Pesche had sensed a vague kind of Spiritual force. It was familiar, something that he would never forget. If Pesche had one good skill, it was the sensing of Spiritual forces. He knew that the energy he had felt was from the one and only Nnoitra Jiruga. He didn't know why Nnoitra's energy was strong, perhaps he was in battle. He wanted to get Nel as far as possible from Nnoitra Jiruga, the one who had ruined Neliel-sama's life.

Nnoitra wore his hakama, but didn't bother to put the top on. He was thirsty, and Tesla didn't respond to his calls. ''He's gonna get it later'' he frowned. Nnoitra opened his door, and walked through the hallway.  
''This is your room, woman'' a familiar voice calmly stated.  
''..Thank you'' a lighter voice responded.  
Nnoitra curiously looked around the corner just to see the fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, together with a young woman who looked like a human.  
''Yo'' Nnoitra sneered. He scanned the woman with his one eye from top to toe. He did admit that she had a nice body, yet Neliel's was sexier. A several silent moments in his mind later he scolded himself.  
'' What is your business?'' Ulquiorra later responded after having put the woman into custody.  
''Is that the girl Aizen told you to kidnap?'' Nnoitra tilted his head slightly.  
''I did not kidnap her, it was all-''  
'' Yea yea, Aizen's plan, I got that part''

''You're quite lucky, perhaps you'll finally get laid'' Nnoitra laughed out loud, yet stopped when Ulquiorra flashed him a deadly stare. ''Good luck with that pet'' Nnoitra added, before walking away. He still had to get some water to satisfy his thirst. Thus, he walked towards the kitchen and and filled a glass with water. When he brought the glass to his lips, he could see Szayel standing in the corner. Nnoitra simply gulped down the liquid and broke the glass with his hand before wanting to walk off.  
''That's not how you do the dishes''  
" Fuck off Szayel, You ain't gonna tell me how to do it''  
''Perhaps Neliel was right'' Szayel said, swishing his hair back with his right hand. Nnoitra sharply turned around at the mention of Neliel.  
''You are quite childish'' Szayel chuckled, '' Oh sorry, did I re-open old wounds?'' he cynically said.  
''You wanna die?!'' Nnoitra shouted, pushing Szayel to the wall with his hand.  
''I apologise'' Szayel said with a cynical smile. Nnoitra sighed, muttering that Szayel wasn't worth his time.

Nel fell asleep against Pesche, snoring quite loudly. ''Dondochakka, I have had a good reason to avoid the castle'' Pesche said.  
''What can it be except for them?'' Dondochakka sat down next to Pesche.  
'' I have felt his reiatsu once again, he is still there'' Pesche lowered his head. Feeling sad that he couldn't protect his master from the terrible events that had ocurred to her.  
'' We have to protect her against them at all costs!'' Pesche stated while patting Nel's broken mask.

After Nnoitra left his room, he went out of Las Noches. He was bored as hell. Tesla had disappeared to some place. Lately Tesla seemed absent-minded, as if he was hiding something. However, Nnoitra didn't waste his time with that. Knowing Tesla, it would be another romantic problem. Tesla was a loyal Fraccion, however, he always flirted with the ladies. Not that Nnoitra didn't do that, compared to Tesla he was a professional. He could get any girl into his bed without even trying. Perhaps that was one of the good points of being an Espada. Lately he didn't really feel like it. The girls were way too easy to get, which was boring.  
Nnoitra walked over to the spot he had dropped Neliel, and dug his hand into the sand. He could feel the cool sand enveloping around his hand. He had dropped her here, a long while ago. That was the last time he saw her. The woman who had made his life a hell. When he took his hand out of the sand he felt something hard in his palm. He opened his clenched fist just to see a stone. In fact, it was a Desert Rose. He rarely saw these, because it never rained in Hueco Mundo. All the desert roses were made of human liquid. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the colour of the stone. It was blood red, and looked quite old. He gulped slightly, as he reminded himself of whose blood this was.  
''She deserved it, little bitch'' he said whilst smirking. He placed the desert rose in his pocket as he kept on walking.

Three months went by, and the former Ryoka came to save their desperate friend, Orihime. Grimmjow fought Ichigo with the confidence that he would win. The king of the Adjuchas held his stand, yet not for long. Ichigo had gotten a self-confidence boost froom Orihime. Nnoitra simply walked on after he had trashed one of the Ryoka's called Sado. He kept laughing at the pathetic show the tanned man had showed him. Tesla was following Nnoitra silently after he had been scolded for defending Nnoitra after the former Ryoka showed intent to harm his master. Nnoitra seemed excited. He had finally found someone with enough Spiritual power to fight with.

Nnoitra watched how Grimmjow struggled, and grabbed his double-crescent blade. He jumped up high and attacked Grimmjow while wearing a big grin on his face. He always hated Grimmjow. He was annoying and thought that he was the king of everything.  
" Finally '' Nnoitra laughed.  
'' N-Noitra.. you bastard!'' Grimmjow shouted, and flinched as he could feel his lungs press together.  
Nnoitra chuckled and jumped up high to finish Grimmjow off. To his surprise Grimmjow was being protected by the orange-haired shinigami.  
'' What the fuck is this Grimmjow, huh? Being protected by the one who defeated you? You are a fucking disgrace!'' Nnoitra kept on laughing. He loved to see the blue haired Espada on the ground, kicked off his imaginary throne. Nnoitra felt the prescense of a fifth person aside from Tesla, Orihime, the Shinigami and himself. He couldn't really feel where it came from, but it felt nostalgic. He kept fighting against the orange headed shinigami called Kurosaki. When Nnoitra turned to look at Tesla, he saw that Tesla had found another person hiding behind a huge rock. ''Who is that'' Nnoitra asked, throwing the orange head against the floor.

''It is an arrancar, Nnoitra-sama'' Tesla informed him. Nnoitra sneered, he couldn't give a fuck about a brat. He wrapped his long fingers around Kurosaki's wrist, twisting it slowly in order to break it. Ichigo's cries were heard, and Orihime tried to scream.  
'' Don't touch Itsygo!'' a sudden voice was being heard. Nnoitra simply ignored the kid, and continued.  
'' Stop it, Stop it please!'' The arrancar said.  
Nnoitra turned around, feeling quite annoyed because of the little arrancar and had released Ichigo's wrist. ''What do you want, brat'' Nnoitra said, his tall and lanky body, bowing in order to view the kid's face. Something in his chest started to pump fast, he felt nostalgic. Something was wrong. The brat had stopped talking too, her eyes wide open in fear.

'' Neliel?''

´´That Estigma´´ Nnoitra snorted while placing his long index finger onto the bridge of his nose.  
He was sure that it was Neliel. He had not seen her for a long time, yet the arrogant expression Neliel always wore in front of Nnoitra, was fresh in his mind. This time, she looked pathetic to him. A little brat.

´´ Don´t tell me that you came to Las Noches to take revenge, looking like that?''  
'' N—No I just went with Itsygo''  
'' Hah, you used him, you sly bitch''  
'' I—I didn't use him! I merely.. Merely had fun with Itsygo!'' she cried out.

Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes. She was honestly afraid of the tall and lanky man. Something was familiar about him, but she didn't know what.  
'' Oi, Shinigami'' Nnoitra said whilst walking over to little Nel.  
'' D—Don't touch her!'' Ichigo exclaimed, trying to stand up.  
'' Do you even know who she is?''  
'' What do you mean, of course I d—''  
'' Neliel Tu Oderschvank. An Espada''

Nnoitra always loved to see the despair in people's faces. His eye scanned the shinigami's expression, but he was surprised. He couldn't see any sign of fear, despair or anger.  
''I—Itsygo! I didn't betray you!''  
'' Itsygo!''

The cries of the little girl did not go unheard. The shinigami ignored his pain, and ran towards Nel. He picked her up in his arms, and he could hear the little one squeak.  
'' Don't worry Nel, I know you didn't use us''

Something in the tall man started to boil. He couldn't stand the sight of Neliel in the damned Shinigami's arms. Why did the Shinigami trust her so much, even though she is supposed to be his enemy?  
Nnoitra kept fighting the Shinigami, and the Shinigami seemed to lose badly. Nnoitra's mind was overtaken by rage, yet he wasn't sure why. He wanted to slice the Shinigami into small bits of bones and flesh. When Nnoitra was torturing the Shinigami, a bright light took his attention. A small explosion occurred with no reason at all. A pink mist that seemed way too familiar to him went his way. He released the shinigami, and stood up. He was feeling something pound inside of him.

''So it is you, Neliel''

Neliel used a sonido in order to cut Nnoitra, which was succesful. Nnoitra snickered slightly as the memories returned. However he was angry. Very angry. He was angry at Neliel for protecting that shinigami. Nnoitra kept fighting, their swords clashing together. Neliel kept her ground and pushed Nnoitra back. However, Nnoitra saw an opening, he pushed his large weapon forward, wanting to make use of this opportunity. However ,something had stopped him. He had stopped his weapon. When he looked at the former Espada he saw that she had stopped as well.

''Why did you stop?''  
''Why did you?''  
'' Stupid bitch! I stopped because you stopped!''

Nnoitra felt his anger rise even more. Why didn't she cut him when she had the chance? His mind was overthrown by questions, however, he had no time to get answers. He had to protect himself from the swift attacks Neliel dealed. He had fought her numerous of times, but there was never a time that she was as serious as she was today. This is what he wanted for a long time, but why did he still feel empty? Perhaps it was because of her reason to fight. She was protecting that damned shinigami. He was angry, more than ever. He jumped back, and stuck his tongue out. He had never used a cero against Neliel. He doesn't know why he never had used it. A golden glow started to form on the tip of his tongue, soon enough turning into a powerful energy ball. He fired it.

Neliel had seen Nnoitra's cero before. She just never thought that he would use it against her. She was always surprised that he had never released his sword, nor used a cero against her. Perhaps he might've even won with it. As the great energy ball neared Neliel, she opened her mouth to drain the energy into her mouth. She closed her eyes and concentrated, yet several thoughts entered her head. What if she killed Nnoitra?

Nnoitra scolded himself for forgetting one of her specialities. He saw her use it against an Adjuchas before. It was something that lingered in his thoughts for a long time. But now, she used it against him. He couldn't escape, he knew that. He stood there, his eye wide open as he watched his rival fire his and her cero together. The thought disgusted him. She had layed her own cero on top of his, and fired it back. As if they were a team, as if they had gotten along.

Neliel watched how Nnoitra just stood there. He didn't move at all. A sense of guilt entered Neliel's big heart, as she saw him being blown away by her cero. The sand flew up, as if it became a small tornado. Neliel simply watched the sand while her heart was being pierced by guilt. Surely Neliel had killed a lot of hollows and Adjuchas, even some arrancar. However, Nnoitra was somehow different to her. He had hurt her in different ways but she always followed him. He was always on her mind, as if he had cursed her.  
The train of her thoughts stopped as she turned around, walking over to Ichigo. He was being healed by Orihime. She realised that she had done good. She protected the one who had protected her. Yet her heart hurted so bad when she couldn't feel Nnoitra's Spiritual power which he always proudly showed. Tesla ran past Neliel, into the smoke. Neliel felt her eyes sting. She ran towards Ichigo and jumped, hugging him tightly. She didn't want to think about her past actions. Nnoitra deserved to die. He had hurt Pesche and Dondochakka. He had hurt several friendly Arrancars. He wasn't merciful, yet he never had hurt her physically aside from that fated day.  
Neliel looked up as she heard Ichigo choke, and smiled. She was happy that she saved him at least. She hugged him one more time, and that's when Tesla's body flew back past her, thrown against a rock.

Nnoitra felt his head ache quite badly. If he was still as weak as before, he would've been dead for a long time. He had saved himself by stabbing his weapon into the ground, so he wouldn't be blown away too harshly. When he sat up he could see two silhouettes becoming one in the smoke. When the smoke slowly but surely faded, he saw that Neliel was hugging the Shinigami quite tightly. It angered him subconsciously. He saw how Tesla kneeled beside him. Out of rage Nnoitra grabbed Tesla, and threw him a lot of meters forward. When he did that, the two silhouettes seperated. The smoke faded away completely.

Neliel saw Tesla fly past her, as if he was thrown. She looked up, and released Ichigo from her deadly hug. She didn´t remember Nnoitra being so tough. Normally he was unconcious for a while, after she would have fired her Double Cero special. This time though, was different.


End file.
